The Wahine

“Ho, brah, you seen that chick?” Matt started nudging his friend Kalani with his elbow, who was preoccupied in fixing his straps on his backpack. “Ho, she’ solid yeah?”
Matt stared googled eyed as a pretty local girl walked past them on the trail and disappeared. Kalani looked up ahead of the trail and then towards Matt and shook his head. Kalani started laughing.
“My bradah, you need a girlfriend, really bad.“ Kalani whacked his friend on the shoulder, a sign of masculine bonding, and Matt smiled.
They continued their walk through a well worn dirt path with overgrown trees that complety shaded them. Matt and Kalani were hiking in a remote area, on a trail surrounded by lush jungle, a trail that lead to paradise. The paradise was a small strip of white sand beach, only accessible by foot. The beach was enclosed by rocky cliffs along the shoreline, the protectors of paradise. It was rumored that the beach was cursed and over the years the newspapers would report the beach claiming human life every now and then. Many surfers took the rumors and pushed it aside, for the beach produced clean and powerful waves. The beach was considered to be an asset to those who loved to surf, and rumors didn’t stop Matt and Kalani from making their morning trek. Cutting out from school today, they both were excited about the predicted three to five swells heard on the radio surf report early this morning.
After about twenty minutes, they reached their destination. White sparkling sand and crystal blue ocean waves eagerly greeted them. Matt scan beach eagerly for signs of the girl who brushed past him earlier on the trail. She was now where to be seen, and Matt was a bit disappointed, but Kalani looked at him and they both smiled in realization, for the beach was empty and they were the first ones to experience the huge waves crashing in front of them, just as the surf report predicted . They quickly dropped their backpacks and Kalani ran towards the water with his board, but before he entered, he turned and called out to Matt.
“Ho, brah you coming in, or you going do your ritual first?” Kalani yelled out towards Matt, as Matt plopped on the warm sand. Matt looked up towards Kalani and smiled, giving the thumbs up sign. Kalani then turned towards the ocean and dived in.
Matt sat on the sand, gazing at the waves as he usually did each time before he surfed. All his friends teased him about his “ritual”, where he took five to ten minutes on shore before he even touched the ocean. To Matt, this time was considered meditation, where he felt peace with the ocean, it was his yoga, his praying time, and it was where he took he time out to study the waves, instead of just rushing in. He was intently studying the waves, in deep concentration, until he suddenly felt presence next to him. He broke his gaze away form the ocean and looked up. He came upon a beautiful face looking down towards him. He realized this was the girl he saw earlier on the trail.
Wow, Matt thought, this girl standing next to me is really hot. Her features are clearly flawless and she had beautiful brown skin and black shiny hair. She wore a light blue pareo wrapped around her neck, with material flowing throughout the curves of her body. He suddenly felt shy, but her beauty beckon him, and he wanted to touch her. She met his stare for a few moments then smiled, showing her pearly white teeth. “Hi,” Matt said shyly.
A feminine, soft spoken voice answered him. “Hello, how are you?” She reached out her hand.
Matt took her hand and felt a chill go through him, her hand, ice cold. How odd, he thought, it’s super hot today, but when he looked at her exquisite face he got lost in his thoughts. “Would you like to sit down?” he asked.
“Sure.” she replied. She sat down by Matt and looked out towards the ocean. Matt turned towards her gaze and saw Kalani paddling at a tip of a break, and then quickly skim his board down to catch a huge wave.
“Is that your friend?” she asked. Her face turned to his face, only inches apart. Matt nodded and felt his body surge with nervousness and excitement. He studied her face intently as she turned to watch Kalani ride his wave. She’s the perfect girl for me, Matt thought. He quickly forgot about surfing and his friend and wanted to know everything about her, her name, where she was from, if she was by herself, and most of all if she was single. He quickly made conversation.
She wouldn’t answer most of his questions except to say she was from this area and she was by herself. Matt thought it was odd he never saw her before, especially since he lived in the next town over, and knew almost everyone by name or face. Sadness suddenly washed over her face and she turned away to leave. Matt quickly grabbed her arm, noticing its cool crispness, like running your fingers through the surface of the ocean for the first time. He quickly let go, and she turned back towards him with a sad smile.
“I have to go.” She looked towards Matt as tears formed in her eyes. Matt suddenly felt confused, not wanting to let this beautiful creature out of his sight, dazzled by her mysterious demeanor, and wanting to assist her in whatever was making her upset. He didn’t know if it was love or lust, but he felt this incredible attraction to be with this girl. “Wait” he called out to her, “do you need any help or anything?”
Her eyes suddenly stop brimming with tears and her face conformed from sadness to mild interest. Matt took it as a sign as hope and ask again, “do you need some help?”
She looked at him for a few minutes, then slowly spoke. “ I used to go out with someone once.” She then looked towards the sea, and spoke again, “but he’s not around anymore.” Her gaze never left the ocean. Matt suddenly assumed she lost a boyfriend here and came to mourn.
“I’m sorry” he said. He knew the stories about guys who drowning here. “I heard that happens here sometimes.”
The girl suddenly looked at him, with a sudden spark in her eyes. “That was a long time ago. There were others, but they never stayed too long with me.” She looked deeply in Matt’s eyes and Matt felt electricity go through him.
She was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“I need someone to stay with me.” Her big brown eyes bore into Matt’s as she spoke. Matt nodded, realizing that he was just propositioned. He smiled as he remembered what Kalani had teased him about earlier on the trail, and laughed at the thought that it actually had begun to come true.
The girl suddenly stood up and said, “Well, then let go for a swim” She ran towards the water and left Matt sitting in the sand. He got up quickly and ran after her. She suddenly dived into the water and disappeared. Matt reached the shore’s edge and felt the cold water embrace him as he dived in. He quickly swam towards the immense surf, looking for his new sweetheart, concerned that she would get pounded by the waves. He dove into the deep water, under the crushing waves and he suddenly felt someone grab him by his waist in the deep water and he opened his eyes to see her brown eyes looking back at him. He saw her smile and she slowly pulled him closer, and they embraced in a long kiss. Matt soon became lost in the kiss, and in the waves.
************************************************************************
Flashes of blue and red from the ambulance and police cut into Kalani’s teary sight as he shook in grief. He was sitting on the hood of the police car, as the paramedics and fire department disappeared down the trail to comb the beach and ocean.
Kalani was having a blast catching waves. After he caught a solid wave, he came up from the white wash of his dying wave and look for Matt. When he didn’t see Matt sitting, he scanned the beach, where he saw couple guys with boards approaching the beach from the trail, but he saw no Matt. He then looked to his right and left, thinking his friend had come into the water, but there was no sign of him. As a set of waves approached him, Kalani dived under and come back up to the surface. He started to panic when he realized that Matt’s board was still on the beach. He quickly swam to shore and asked the two guys as they approached the shoreline with their boards if they saw Matt on the trail, thinking maybe he walked back up to where his car was parked because he forgot something,. When they said they didn’t see him or anyone by Matt‘s car, he frantically searched his backpack for his cell phone and called police. Kalani and the two guys continued to scan the water for any sign of Matt. Kalani reluctantly left his new friends to meet the police at the trailhead as his friends continued to scan the ocean.
As the middle aged policeman gently questioned Kalani, he kept shaking his head slowly. After Kalani’s statement was done, the policeman asked Kalani, “what, you guys never see no wahine there?” Kalani looked up in wonder at the strange question and replied, “my friend said he seen one fine chick walk past us, but I never see or hear nothing, so I thought he was joking around…. Why?” The policeman looked at Kalani with sad eyes and started to walk away.
“Wait” Kalani called out to him. “Why you ask that question for?” He slowly stood up from the hood of the police car. The police man turned back around to face Kalani.
“When I was one small boy, I heard this wahine when drown by the beach while looking for her boyfriend was surfing at this beach. The boyfriend came out from the water and was devastated to learn his girlfriend when drown. They were suppose to be married in a couple days. Growing up I heard stories about guys drowning at this beach.” The policeman drew a deep breath before he continued on. “High school time, I was there surfing one day, and me and couple other guys ended up saving this guy who almost drown in the surf. When we pulled him up, he whispered that he met one beautiful wahine and he wanted to be with her. Later on, I found out he didn’t make it. I never went back to the beach again.” The policeman shook his head at his memories, and shrugged his shoulders half heartedly. He then slowly spoke.
“Every time I hear someone missing or there was a drowning at this beach, I think about what that guy said. Maybe the wahine no like be lonely, wherever she stay.”
At that moment, a beep on the police radio came on. The policeman held the radio in his hand and someone from the other end announced they found Matt’s body. As the voice over the radio confirmed Matt’s demise, the policeman and Kalani looked at each other with a mixture of wonder and sadness.